NEWS

European champions Manchester United beat Asian champions Gamba Osaka 5-3 in the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup in Yokohama on Thursday to set up a showdown with Libertadores Cup holders Liga de Quito.

Gamba will play CONCACAF champions Pachuca in the third-place playoff at the same venue prior to the United-Quito final on Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Adelaide United of Australia, who took part as AFC Champions League runners-up when Gamba became Asian champions, downed African champions Al Ahly of Egypt 1-0 thanks to an early goal by forward Cristiano. The win meant Adelaide finished fifth in the annual club competition.
Playing at International Stadium Yokohama, Gamba had some good moments in the early stages of the game with attempts by Hideo Hashimoto in the second minute, Tomokazu Myojin in the fourth, Michihiro Yasuda in the fifth and forward Lucas in the seventh minute.
In the 13th minute, forward Ryuji Bando brought the 67,618 spectators to their feet after latching on to a long ball over the Manchester defense at the end of a quick counterattack and striking a sharp left-foot shot from the edge of the box that was denied by an equally sharp save from United keeper Edwin Van der Sar.
The English Premiership giants went ahead in the 28th minute when Nemanja Vidic outjumped his marker to head in a Ryan Giggs corner at the far post.
The J. League side came close through Lucas in the 41st minute and Bando in the 44th minute, but their shots went wide.
United widened their lead to 2-0 shortly before halftime when Cristiano Ronaldo cleverly shook off his marker and headed in another Giggs corner.
Van der Sar had to react sharply to keep out a fierce shot by Gamba and Japan midfielder Yasuhito Endo in the 65th minute, with Bando unlucky not to
score on the rebound.
Akira Nishino's side saw their efforts pay off in the 74th minute when they pulled a goal back. Hashimoto took a ball from Endo and dribbled up the right flank before passing to Masato Yamazaki. The forward, who scored eight goals in the ACL campaign, made no mistake with a neat low finish past Van der Sar.
But United hit back strongly, scoring three goals in the space of five minutes. Forward Wayne Rooney came off the bench in the 73rd minute and immediately put his side 3-1 up with a first-time shot.
Three minutes later, substitute midfielder Darren Fletcher headed home a Nani cross, while Rooney struck again two minutes after that for a 5-1 lead.
In the 84th minute, Gamba were awarded a penalty after Bando's cross hit Gary Neville's arm. Endo coolly stroked the ball past Van der Sar into the bottom left corner of the goal to make the score 5-2.
The J. League side then cut the deficit further in stoppage time with a slick counterattack finished off with a rasping shot by Hashimoto.
"I think we had some moments when we showed our style of football, but I'm so disappointed with the way we gave up the goals. We lost them so easily," Nishino said.
"It would have been an enjoyable game if the score had been the other way round. But our players worked very hard, trying to face down their opponents and show their abilities as best they could," Nishino added.
"The fans got their money's worth," United manager Sir Alex Ferguson noted. "It was an amazing game. I don't know what the scores could've been. Edwin Van der Sar made three fantastic saves for us."
"I have to pay my compliments to our opponents. Some of their football was very good -- their movement and confidence with the ball were very good. I think it is an indication of the improvement and the development of Japanese football. I was quite impressed by them."
Endo said, "It was a shame we gave away a third goal so soon after we made it 2-1. But I was playing with the belief that we would have chances to come back. It would have been different if we could have hung in there after going down 3-1. I think each one of us should become much tougher mentally."
Asked about their next game with Pachuca, Endo replied: "It's as important a game as the one today as we want to finish third. I can see some similarities in their game to ours. We shouldn't be satisfied with the goals we scored today and should go for goals again. We'll do our best for the win."